A panel of International Criminal Court (ICC) judges has formally reported Hungary to the court’s oversight body for its failure to arrest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his April visit to Budapest, The Associated Press reported on Friday.
The judges assert that Hungary's actions severely undermine the court’s ability to fulfill its mandate of bringing suspects to justice.
Netanyahu received a red-carpet welcome from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán despite an active ICC arrest warrant against the Israeli leader and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who are accused of crimes against humanity related to the conflict in Gaza.
In a filing released Thursday, the three-judge panel stated that "the obligation to cooperate was sufficiently clear to Hungary," emphasizing that the failure to apprehend Netanyahu "severely undermines the Court’s ability to carry out its mandate."
Hungary denounced the ICC arrest warrant against Netanyahu and Gallant, and later announced that it would withdraw from the ICC altogether.
During Netanyahu's visit, Orbán declared his country’s commitment to the ICC as "half-hearted" and initiated the process for Hungary’s withdrawal from the court.
The court dismissed Hungary’s argument that its Parliament had not incorporated the ICC’s statute into Hungarian law, asserting, "it was Hungary’s responsibility to ensure that such legislation was in place."
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)